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Following that comprehensive Test series victory over India, its first in 28 years, England squared the T20 series versus India 1-1 with a nail-biting finish in Mumbai Saturday. In one of the most exciting finishes in this format of the game, skipper Eoin Morgan hoisted the last ball for a straight towering six for a six-wicket victory.

It was a dramatic ending, as it appeared England had left it too late requiring three runs off the last ball from Ashok Dinda. But Morgan kept a cool head while India's skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni tried to unnerve Morgan by huddling with his bowler and senior players.

After the wait, Dinda gathered speed and delivered a 138 km/h ball only to see the cool Irishman slam it over the bowler's head for a six and silence the huge crowd at the Wankhede Stadium. England made 181 for four, its highest T20 score, after India piled on 177 for eight with Dhoni and Virat Kohli scoring 38 apiece and Suresh Raina an unbeaten 35.

For England, Martin Lumb made a sparkling 50 and Alex Hales weighed in with 42, the two laying the foundation by putting up 80 for the first wicket. YuvrajSingh, the hero of India's win in the first match, starred with three for 17 before Morgan slammed 49 with five fours and two sixes to take the game away from the hosts.

After flying home Sunday for Christmas, England returns to India for five ODI matches starting Jan. 6

DILEMMA FOR SELECTORS

For the first time in 23 years, India's selectors face a dilemma of epic proportions. Will they take the unprecedented step of leaving out the "undroppable" SachinTendulkar when they convene in Mumbai later Sunday to pick its team for the upcoming three-ODI series against touring arch-rival Pakistan? Until recently just the thought of leaving the icon out would have been considered sacrilegious, but the 39-year-old is no longer as sharp and fast in the field and even his most ardent fans should realize he is a liability in the two shorter forms of the game. In the 10 ODIs in 2012, Tendulkar has averaged a mere 31.5 runs with one century.

Tendulkar, of course, can still command his place in the Test squad, but his record here too makes dismal reading. In six Tests this year he has totalled 175 runs and, in the recent series versus England, he made 112 runs. The selectors face a tough call unless Tendulkar himself conveys a message that he will step down and concentrate on Tests ... Pakistan's national team was given a rousing welcome when it arrived in Delhi Saturday night. It then took a connecting flight to Bangalore for its first T20 match on Christmas Day.

BONUS FOR GTA FANS

Expect hundreds of diehard GTA cricket fans to travel to Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago this summer to watch a triangular limited-overs tournament involving the West Indies, Sri Lanka and World Cup champion India. India's decision to play will also draw hundreds if not thousands of fans from the United States where cricket has taken off in a big way in parts of New York, Florida and California.

The tournament opens with India facing West Indies at Kingston's Sabina Park on June 28 and two days later West Indies takes on Sri Lanka in a rematch of the World T20 final in October when the Windies surprised the highly-favoured Sri Lankans. The final is scheduled for Queen's Park Oval in Trinidad July 11.

HUDSON STOKES FIRES

Former Test player and now head honcho of South Africa's selection committee Andrew Hudson has stirred up a hornet's nest. He promised wicketkeeper Thami Tsolekile that he would play in the Test series against touring New Zealand and then promptly left him out of the squad.

Hudson admitted making the promise and not following up as first-stringer AB de Villiers insisted on playing as a batsman-wicketkeeper in Tests. Tsolekile has every right to feel hard done by and, although this story is making headlines in South Africa, the player has only said he is disheartened by the mixed messages he has received. This isn't a story that can be swept under the carpet as Tsolekile is a black who grew up in a country that practised apartheid where the door was shut on non-whites. The Test team has not fielded a black African since Lonwabo Tsotsobe played in 2011, although a few Coloureds have made their mark including Hashim Amla, who I rate as the best Test batsman in the world today along with Australia's Michael Clarke ... Former pace bowler MakhayaNtini is favoured to find himself a job as a national selector after Cricket South Africa announced it would include a black African selector in its committee. Ntini is outspoken and he could make life difficult for Hudson and his types. Ntini took the management to task for not playing Tsolekile on the recent tour of Australia, maintaining Tsolekile would have played had he been white. Tsolekile wisely stayed out of the controversy ... South Africa hardly broke a sweat as its young team stormed to an easy eight-wicket T20 win over visiting New Zealand Friday. New Zealand, still smarting over the controversial exit of RossTaylor as captain prior to this tour, was shot out for 86, its third-lowest T20 score ever. South Africa reached its target in 12.1 overs. New Zealand will want to put that horrible show in Durban behind it when it takes to the field in the second of three T20 encounters in East London Sunday.

BRIEFLY

Australia will be looking to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three Test series against visiting Sri Lanka in the second match that starts in Melbourne on Boxing Day despite losing star paceman Ben Hilfenhaus to injury. Shane Watson is expected to assume the captaincy in case injured Clarke doesn't recover in time. Australia, who won the first Test by 137 runs, will once again rely on a four-pronged pace attack with Jackson Bird making his debut and lining up with Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc and Mitchell Johnston ... Sri Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene is upset that a confidential letter he sent to his board has been leaked to the press. In it he asked that all the guarantee money promised to the team for finishing World Cup T20 runner-up to the West Indies be equally shared by the players, team management and support staff. The board had decided that only the players were entitled to the pot. He said he was "disturbed" that the letter was published in a local newspaper, adding he had "lost all confidence in the board."

Eoin Morgan ends England's cricket year on high note

Following that comprehensive Test series victory over India, its first in 28 years, England squared the T20 series versus India 1-1 with a nail-biting finish in Mumbai Saturday. In one of the most exciting finishes in this format of the game, skipper Eoin Morgan hoisted the last ball for a straight towering six for a six-wicket victory.